


Pulled Away

by annelea



Series: The Renge Clan [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:14:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7220122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annelea/pseuds/annelea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The chunin exams have a drastically different outcome.  Kakashi is dead.  Someone else comes to Sakura's rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tou-san Wa Koigitaki Desu](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/207370) by AnneLea (me). 



> This started out as a different side-step of a story on FFN that I never posted. Now it will have a home here. I don't know how far this may go.

"Stay here. I'll even out the odds a little."

Those words were no lie. The battle between the Hokage and Orochimaru had to be protected from outside interfearance, so the best of the enemy would be there. The others would be taking targets of opportunity or knocking down Leaf who were capable of waking others from the genjutsu that had almost everyone sleeping. As long as Sakura stayed still, she would not become a target again. So she sat back down, reaching for the still hand of a sleeping Ino as she watched Kakashi and Gai draw attention to themselves within the arena. Their movement pulled the watching enemies in, several at a time, straight to the slaughter.

Sakura hadn't seen so many people fall at once since their mission to Wave. Seeing her own sensei doing the killing was a bit disturbing despite the fact that she knew this is what he was supposed to be training her to do in the end. He was forged durring war in hand to hand combat, pure life or death every day for years. This came naturally, maybe too much so, to him. He was in his element and that meant she was safe for the moment, as long as she did what he said.

 

========================================================================================

The air was cool, but the stench still hung in the air. Blood hung on her clothing, and his. Most of it was his. The rest blonged to Ino, Lee, Kiba, Shino, and several civilians. It stank and stuck her clothes and hair to her body, but she didn't dare move, not yet. If she moved, even made the tiniest of sounds, they might find her. If they found her, they would kill her. She was of no other use to them.

Akamaru whined at her side, so high pitched she almost didn't hear it. The white dog, just as bloody and muddy as her, nudged the man's hand. It fell back on her side lifelessly. Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since he last said anything to reassure her. He would mutter things to her early in the evening, after he shielded her from an attack. She was running after Sasuke, but, the next thing she knew, Kakashi was there, collapsed ontop of her, unmoving except to whisper for her to stay still, not to make a sound. Now, she didn't even feel him breathe, his heart had stopped beating, too, or else there would be more blood pouring down on her from whatever had went through his body and slightly into her back.

The strongest man she had ever known lay dead. He had chosen to protect her despite the fact that she wasn't really worth it in the end. She hardly had a prayer at becoming a chunin, let alone a jonin like him. Yet, he gave his life to save hers. Why? What was it he had said towards the end of his mutterings? He was saying he was sorry to someone. To a guy. He was apolijising for failing to protect a girl named Rin. Heck, he even called her Rin by accident once. Who was Rin? What did she have to do with any of this?

It didn't matter. Akamaru was howling now. He howled both for Kakashi and for Kiba who lay beside them. He was drawing attention to her position in his grief. She had three options.

Option one, she could stay there and wait for the enemy to come and silence Akamaru and hope they didn't notice her.

Option two, she could run now and risk being caught fleeing.

Option three, she could kill Akamaru herself and silence the dog before anyone noticed.

No matter what, the body of Hatake Kakashi was something the enemy would want to parade alongside the Hokage's to demoralize the citizens still alive. She would have to move eventually. It was better for her to move herself and make an attempt at escape before they got to her. That's when the fourth option presented itself to her mind.

"Akamaru," she whispered, knowing it was enough to get his attention. "We have to go now, okay? They'll kill us. We have to go."

The dog whined and grumbled some more.

"Please... I don't want to die, too. Do you?"

With a last look, and lick, of his companion, the puppy took hold of Kakashi's sleeve and tugged to help pull him off of Sakura. Between the two of them, she was just barely able to scoot out from under the man's weight. The object stuck through Kakashi's body and into her back tore at her flesh roughly, damaging muscles as she went. She barely felt them, though; a new surge of adrenaline saw to that for the moment. Finally free, she picked up Akamaru and took a look around.

The arena was clear of all other living souls. Nobody had stayed behind to guard what they thought was already secured. Taking down the main governmental buildings and military strongholds would be their main objective now. As per her duty, Sakura should have gone to one of those places and fought against the enemy, but, seeing her dead friends, she didn't have the stomach for it. Sasuke was about ten meters ahead, body a strange grey-purple color with black markings covering him, motionless. Naruto was nowhere to be seen or heard. One thing was for sure, if he was in the area, he could be heard clearly. She didn't dare look behind her to see Kakashi or Kiba. She already knew her parents were gone. The civilians in the arena were the first to be taken out with poison.

Biting back the urge to puke, having cried every tear she had already, Sakura ran as fast as she could, limping heavily, towards a side-exit to the arena.

And then something moved. Of course, it had to be a person in the shaddows. This was a ninja village, so the shaddows should have been the first place she should have checked.

"Come here, quick!" the young man motioned for her, checking over his shoulder multiple times.

Sakura backed up again, back into the bright moonlight. Was this some sort of trick? Did he really think that was going to work?

"Haruno Sakura, come here!"

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"I'll tell you my name later," he answered, putting away the oddly shaped kunai he now understood was making her nervous. "I'm an ANBU of Konoha, if you didn't already figure that out. Please, this wasn't supposed to happen like this. I can explain. Just, let's get out of here. I need to get you somwhere safer than this."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part is typed up on the fly, so if you see any mistakes that bother you, let me know! I will strive to fix them!

Not knowing where else to turn, she followed him all the way through the back streets and to a side exit through the walls she didn't know existed before.  He had handed her one of his oddly shaped weapons just in case they were attacked on the way, but his rout was true and clear.  It wasn't until they made it to the other side of a mountain that he stopped to rest at a former ANBU training camp, currently devoid of members.  Things still weren't fully sinking in for her as she settled down on a log by a fire pit, starting to shiver.  
  
"When's the last time you ate?" he asked quickly.  
  
"This morning," she answered softly, looking around at the tents, semi-permanent buildings, strung up rabbits and other fire pits scattered here and there.  
  
He checked his watch.  "It's evening now.  You're still doing those stupid diets, aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah," she admitted, hanging her head.  
  
"Not anymore," he told her, walking quickly towards one of the wooden semi-permanent buildings.  He was only there a few seconds before coming out with some dried plumbs and dried deer meat to hand her, taking off his mask to tear into some of his own.  "You need to start taking better care of yourself.  You're stronger than you give yourself credit."

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem to think much of me," she sighed, then paused, remembering the last time she saw him.  Sakura looked down at her sticky, bloodied clothes.  Most of it was Kakashi's.  "Why did he protect me?"

"He cares more deeply for people than he will ever admit," the man hung his head, looking at the dirt on his shoes.  "If he pushes you away, or ignores you, it's because he cares.  My aunt taught me that."

"Your aunt?  Your aunt couldn't have known him.  You're like... ancient."

The man turned his grey-blue eyes at her with accusation.  "Is it because of my hair?"

She looked him over again.  Yes, his hair was nearly white, similar to her sensei's.  His eyes spoke of the same pains she saw in other shinobi that had seen combat and death.  They were old.  The rest of his face, however, looked to be a bit younger than her mother.  So... old to her, but young to most society, she guessed.

"Yeah, sorry..."

"Eat," he commanded, seeing that she'd only taken a few bites.  "Kakashi told me about your idiotic thoughts about staying thin."

Sakura looked back at her food.  Right now, she didn't know if she could take another bite.  "Tell me.  Are you two related?  He said once... he said everyone he cared about was dead."

"Yeah...  you could say we're related.  I am a Hatake as well.  About his age, too.  He doesn't know I'm still alive."

Sakura scooted a little bit away from him.  There had to be a good reason for that.  Backing away a little farther, she touched her injured side to a rough post of one of the shelters.

"Come here," the Hatake man sighed.

"Why?" she asked through a wince.

He gestured to her side.  "My aunt, also, taught me how to do some basic healing with chakra."

She thought about refusing, but her side really, really hurt.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Sakura woke the next morning in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar nightgown, to unfamiliar sounds outside.  Hunger gnawed at her stomach and pushed her to get up despite the confusion.  Standing up, she saw that the gown was a bit long, and she had to lift up the front so as not to trip on it.

Approaching the door to the poorly furnished bedroom, she head voices.

"You shouldn't have brought her here, Kazuo!" a woman chided.  "Kizashi shouldn't see her.  You know that!"

"I know," the somewhat familiar voice of the man she met yesterday answered.  "It was just so soon after I jumped to her time, I couldn't get back to mine.  I need a couple days.  Maybe Jiraiya-nii-san will help.  Is he around?"

Thoroughly confused, Sakura opened the door a crack.  There, in what looked like the kitchen down the hall, stood two burgundy-haired people and a boy who was obviously their son, facing the Hatake man she now knew was called Kazuo.  The alarming thing was, Sakura recognized the boy from family photographs.  Didn't they already call him Kizashi?

Sakura slammed the door shut again.

_Okay...  That kid looks like my dad when he was a kid.  Why do they have the same name?  What is that guy talking about 'jumping' like it takes some sort of real effort?  Who is Jiraiya?_


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura wasn't allowed out of that room except to use the bathroom for the next two days.  Kazuo brought her food and clothing, and he took clothing out for the boy, Kizashi.  She tried to ask him questions, but the only thing he'd tell her was that they wouldn't be here long and there was no point.

She did try to escape on the second day.  True to his word, Kazuo had healed her side, and, other than a faintly pinker patch, there was no indication she'd ever been harmed.  With no pain there was great confidence.  The window was first.  It was nailed shut.  Breaking it would make too much noise.  Just trying to find a way to remove the nails made enough noise to alert the neighbor's dog.

The door was second.  Picking locks was easy.  Of course, Kazuo had rigged the lock itself to shock anybody that tampered with it.  That one left a pin prick in her finger.  Kazuo was at the door in an instant, scolding her.

"I want to go home!" Sakura demanded through the thick wood.  "I want to go back to Konoha.  They had to fix things by now, right?  I mean... we've got the best shinobi in the world!"

The man sighed.  "You _are_ in Konoha, Sakura-san.  Please.  I can't explain it here.  Just be patient with me."

"I don't even know you.  Why should I trust you?"

The door opened a crack.  Little Akamaru walked in and bushed up against her leg.  He sat down and gave her a lazy tail wag and high keening whine.  Before he could yip, she picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"Animals tend to be a good judge of character.  Can you agree that Akamaru is?" the man asked.

"Yes.  Of course he is." the girl nuzzled the puppy.

"Does he ever seem to distrust me?"

Sakura thought on that one for a moment.  "No."

"Then you can trust me, too.  I need to rest.  You need to stay hidden.  I'm doing my best to find a place where you can stay and grow until you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Not now."

 

* * *

 

 

He had transported them again.  This time it was to an abandoned town, one that looked both recently lived in, yet belonging to a different century all together.  It was clear that flood waters had done a lot of damage.  Not many structures remained.  Someone had been busy rebuilding parts here and there, it seemed.

"What's this creepy place?" Sakura asked, wrinkling her nose as she caught a whiff of rotting vegetables from the near-by fields.  "Where are we?  Konoha's been dry most of the summer.  This must be a long way away."

"You still don't understand," Kazuo shook his head.  "We're still near Konoha physically.  See that mountain?  Doesn't it look at all familiar?"

Sakura looked in the direction he pointed.  Nothing that way looked similar at all to her home, and yet...  If she just imagined buildings, and carvings on the rock face...  Yes.  That mountain's ridge line and peak matched her home!  But...  Where was Konoha?

"It's not a matter of where.  It's when," Kazuo explained when he could tell she started to realize her sittuation.  "This is several centuries before the Uchiha and the Senju stop their feud to found Konoha.  This place will lay abandoned until about seventy years before that.  Even then, it will only be used by hunters."

"But... there are buildings here... right now!  So I know you're a liar!  What kind of gen-jutsu is this?  It's terrible!  I'll just" - she put her hands in the proper position to gather her strength - "KAI!"

Nothing happened.  Nothing at all.

She tried again and again.  No change.

Kazuo decided to leave her to her own devices, work herself out of chakra, and come to the conclusions on her own.  For now, he needed to scrounge up more supplies for the girl.  He had what he would need for several days in the one fully restored house.  He'd worked on cleaning and repairing his old family home for months on end, all alone.  He taught himself to dry meat, read books about plants in the wild, and left the fields alone.  All of them had been hit with blight and ruined just before the flood rains came.  There was no point in trying to eat the potential harvest.  It would only make him sick again.  His sister had died because of it.  His mother died of starvation trying to feed him and his brother.

His brother.  Selfish, arrogant, always healthy, jack-ass brother.

Damn did he miss Jiraiya.  But, it didn't matter.  Even Jiraiya had nearly starved.  If it hadn't been for Aunt Meiko, a Haruno woman, neither Kazuo or Jiraiya would have survived.

Unlike them, Meiko had come from the future.  She had come from a future where the people of this land were once again rebuilding their homes after war and disaster, yet flourishing all the same.  More people made it back from her generation's war than any of the previous ones.  Shinobi clans weren't trying to kill each other off, but, instead, were all united with a common goal for a change.

Meiko had been a medic.  The responsibility and her life experiences made her mature at the quick rate of most shinobi, quicker than the rest of her village.  She was thrust into a marriage with a Hatake over some stupid idea of a law.  Those people didn't know why the Hatake and Haruno had been friendly with one another in Kazuo's childhood century, but never, ever, married.  Aunt Meiko broke the rules twice.  Once in the century she was born, and again when she showed up already pregnant when Kazuo's brother was about two-years-old in this century.  She married his uncle out of convenience because he resembled her husband and could pass as the father of her children.

They never had children together.

It didn't matter.  Haruno and Hatake weren't supposed to have children together, ever.  Not now, not then, and not in the future.

Kazuo's memories of what Aunt Meiko had told him of the future had grown a bit fuzzy over the years, but one name she kept mentioning was Hatake Kakashi.  He was a general in her time's war.  He was a leader among the Shinobi Nations when she left.

He did not die protecting a Haruno girl.

Yet, he had just witnessed that very death.

Seeing no real option to save the day himself, Kazuo decided to take the girl back home with him.  He would need to see what was so special about her.  If Hatake Kakashi was everything Aunt Meiko said he was, he had to have a very good reason to end up dead over Haruno Sakura.


End file.
